So have you been watching the olympics?
Everyone wants to know.
The answer, for me, is "yes."
Lots of years I miss out on the Olympics. I'm not a TV watcher, so I just forget to turn it on. I might make plans to watch early in the day, but then forget.
This year, I really made a point to turn it on and watch. I didn't see the opening ceremonies, but I've caught lots of athletic footage.
At first, it was exciting--I watched Michael Phelps win a race early on, and watched the women's team gymnastics: the burly American team vs. the tiny, thin Chinese team. Interesting!
But prime time coverage was a bit repetetive. It was swimming and gymnastics every night! So I stopped watching after a while.
Bruce agreed with me about the limited view for coverage. "They just show sports in which Americans might win a medal," he said. "They didn't cover basketball or baseball."
"I don't want to see basketball or baseball," I said. "I want to see weird sports that you don't usually see!" I guess that's why gymnastics and swimming can be fun . . . for a while.
Saturday, though, we turned it on mid-day and they were showing the weird stuff! We watched dressage, fencing, and stadium jumping, along with the women's marathon interspersed with diving and sprints. How fun!
I think I appreciate the olympics more than I have in past years, too. It all reminds me of that movie "Chariots of Fire." When I saw it, I though, eh, so what. Ellen told me that of course I wouldn't like that movie. "Unless you do sports, you're not going to understand that movie," she said. Same with the Olympics. Now that I've actually trained for athletic events--Tae Kwon Do tournaments, and--especially--my black belt test, I can appreciate the Olympic events much more. OK, I didn't train for hours a day for years on end. But I did train hard, learned to focus, and pushed myself physically . . . for a time. It helps me understand--a bit--what those athletes are going through, and helps me appreciate it, too.
Maybe that also helps me remember to turn it on and watch!
1 comment:
I have very fond memories of watching summer Olympics with my mom and sister while we sat in front of the TV and pitted cherries or snapped beans or shelled peas. That was way back when Jim McKay was announcing sports, and the Olympics were a big deal, but not a big overblown affair like they are now. They would show a little sprinkling of everything. I don't really miss not seeing them now, although I do think it's cool that you can watch an event you *are* interested in on the internet
Post a Comment